[Stig]

Jason,
Your fire is too far away from your food to grill. Most UDS builders use their rigs as smokers only, but some have ways to raise the fire basket higher to grill. If you are using the round heavy plate in your pics, that is another problem for smoking also. The hot coals should be in a wire basket about 3 inches higher than the bottom of the drum for good airflow. The basket is usually made from a charcoal grate with a tall ring of expanded sheetmetal attached to it to hold the coals. I think your ball valve is also too high, should be about 2/3 up from the bottom.

In order to salvage your current cook, I would raise the fire by using cinder blocks or somehow lower the cooking grate.